DA 2010 Episode 10: Digital Deceit
by AngelExposed
Summary: Rogue claims that Remy is not Remy, and upon further examination Hank finds out some outstanding evidence that something more disturbing is going on (R&R, finished)
1. Chapter 1: Telltale Signs

Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 10

Chapter 1:  Telltale Signs

          "How could you NOT have noticed, Hank?!" Rogue demanded as she had later calmed down, standing over the body of what they all had once thought was Remy LeBeau – but now Rogue was confident whoever this man was, he could not be the man she loved, however much he appeared to look like him.

          "I don't understand…" Hank followed her over to the cadaver, staring down, "why did you half undress him?" he felt immediately concerned over this, what could a woman like Rogue have possibly been doing undressing Remy?  Had her obsession with not being able to touch people finally gotten to her that she might molest a corpse?  Hank frowned and chided himself for thinking such a thing.  If Rogue had half undressed Remy, there had to be good reason – more than likely to do with this claim that this cadaver was not Remy at all.

          "Look, Hank, doesn't anything seem a little strange to you?  God knows, you've seen him bare-chested before…" Rogue gestured to the bare torso.  "You of all people should have noticed…"

          "Noticed what?" Hank asked, he was staring for some time, he looked tired and extremely confused, Rogue almost felt bad for him – except slightly angry there was something he'd missed when he'd been treating Remy.  Hank's eyes suddenly opened wider, in realisation.

          Rogue realised Hank had suddenly noticed what she had moments earlier, that this body that had assumedly been Remy LeBeau was missing a very important scar on the left side of his chest – a scar that had always been noticeable and could have never completely just disappeared. 

          "His wound," Hank said, he quickly pulled on a pair of surgical latex gloves and touched the area where the scar had been. "The scar from the stab wound he received the day he came to join us…"

"You of all people should have noticed it was gone, Hank…you stitched it up yourself," Rogue reminded.

"Fascinating, the scar has either miraculously healed itself…or…something else is at hand…" Hank's interest showed in those intense indigo eyes of his, his thick furry eyebrows knitted together as he investigated further.

          "This isn't Remy, Hank," Rogue found tears of relief springing to her eyes, she wiped her eyes quickly.

"But how can you be sure?  You've seen Logan heal from larger wounds with not even a scar to show from it…"

"Could that be possible?" Rogue asked, raising an eyebrow, but knowing in her heart there was no way this man on the bed was Remy.

"Possibly, if a new power had manifested within him allowing him the ability to heal at accelerated rates – just like Logan," Hank replied, "but…I would have thought that the scar that would have been there before such a power would have manifested would have remained.  But still…this is just one explanation – there could be many," Hank replied.

"Look at his left hip…" she said quickly, brushing the white streaks of her long hair away from her face.

          "Why?" Hank asked curiously, he reached over, with a very careful and doctor-like fashion pushing the waistband of the Jogging pants slightly down the cadaver, "I don't see anything…"

          "That's just it…" Rogue looked at Hank, "Remy has a tattoo on his hip, a tiny black spade.  I saw it once…" she explained, "it was a personal thing for him, it wasn't something he went around showing people…"

          "Then how did you see it?" Hank raised his eyes to her as he was doubled over the body examining the hip.  He paused, then he shook his head, "No, forget it, I don't want to know," he frowned, "then…if this isn't Remy, who exactly is he?"

          Rogue shook her head, "I don't…I mean, is it possible he had a twin brother?"

          "I think he might have mentioned – at least to you," Hank moved away from the body.  "Does he have any brothers?"

"I don't know…I don't think he mentioned…it was so long ago that me and Remy were close to discuss things like that…I just don't remember…he had a sister – remember, she died in the cave in under the Muir Island Research Centre…" Rogue reminded.

"Yes, I remember," Hank nodded.

"He WAS adopted by the leader of the Guild of Thieves," Rogue hugged herself, "could it be possible there were twins, Remy and another brother?  Maybe they were separated at Birth…" she asked.

"Identical twins?  Possibly.  Certainly would explain why Rem—er, I mean this…person didn't how signs of possessing any mutant abilities…" Hank admitted, "That could be yet another explanation," he added, "I myself would have assumed this may have been a shapeshifter, if he or she could copy Remy's exact face and body without flaw and never have known about any distinguishing marks – but if so…the body would have reverted back to normal upon the death…" Hank frowned in deep concentration, "there seems to be something very disturbing going on."

Rogue nodded, still gazing down at the body.

Hank sighed, "I wished I had not become so immersed in my work that I've neglected the signs…how could I have been so ignorant of these details?"

"Hank, your work is important to you, its easy to get caught up in something that matters to you and lose track of everything else, it happens to us all…" Rogue touched his arm, "even me…" she sighed.  Rogue stared down at the body, relief still spreading through her, the hope that perhaps Remy LeBeau wasn't 

Hank stayed silent for moment, apparently deep in thought, then pulled himself out of it, and spoke again, "Rogue, I know you didn't want me doing anything to the body but…has that changed?" he asked.

          "Yes," Rogue nodded, "I want to know what the hell is going on here…I want to know WHO this guy is and WHY he looks like Remy…"

          Hank took off his gloves, he unlocked a large medicinal closet nearby and began to search within, "years and years ago, I took a blood sample from Remy, as well as some DNA samples…never thought they would come in handy – until this moment," he admitted, he retrieved a hypodermic needle, some sterile swabs and a handful of other items he'd need to investigate further. 

          Rogue headed for the door, "I guess I better go tell Kitty the good news…she's still really upset…"

          "Rogue, please, do not get your hopes up too much about this.  If this isn't Remy, it still does pose the question of where Remy is…and if he is indeed alive…we still have so much to find out…"

          "I know," Rogue nodded, but faintly smiled, "But I can't just give up hope…I don't have much else to hold onto right now…"

          Hank nodded, "Go talk with Kitty, while I investigate this further."

          It was four thirty am when Kitty Pryde heard the knocking on her door, she'd been lying across the bed with her small fourteen inch television on with the volume low, hoping maybe some sound in the background would lull her to sleep – but it hadn't done anything except aggravate her.  "Who is it?"

          The door open and Rogue walked in, her expression wasn't one of heartbreak as one might expect, she looked happy, and this began to concern Kitty instantly.  "Rogue…what is it?" Kitty asked, she sat up straight, brushing her bangs away from her forehead.

          "Something…something wonderful has happened, Kitty," Rogue rushed over and sat down, "Remy isn't dead…"

          "You mean he's still alive?" Kitty asked, "But…we…we saw him, he was dead, Hank had him covered in the hospital…what do you mean he's still alive?" Kitty's large blue eyes widened in shock.

          "I don't know exactly what's going on yet, Kitty, but…whoever that man is down there, he isn't Remy…he's…I don't know, a lookalike, maybe a twin…"

          "Could have fooled me, looked the spitting image of Remy to me," Kitty felt shock jolting her, it seemed her whole world had felt as if it were falling apart only hours ago at the death of someone else she had cared about, and now she was finding out that this was all some kind of  mistake, that the man down there wasn't Remy.  "I spent hours with him, that was Remy, Rogue, I know Remy when I see him!"

          "I know he looks like him, but he's not…" Rogue assured, she looked straight at Kitty, "Remy has a scar, here on his chest," she gestured upon her own chest where the scar should have been, "and on his left hip a small tattoo of a spade – you know, like the ace of spades…" she explained, "I went into see the body one last time, and I noticed that he didn't have the scar…I knew right then that it couldn't be Remy."

          "He couldn't have possibly had both the scar and the tattoo removed?" Kitty asked.

          "No…" Rogue said firmly, "I saw that scar on him recently, do you remember that day me and you came back from going out for pizza and he was in the garage working on that stupid motorbike that's in pieces?  He didn't have a shirt on and I saw that scar then…he couldn't have it removed so suddenly – and not without someone having found out about it…"

          Kitty frowned, "this whole thing is so bizarre…the bullet…then Remy not being Remy…the lack of memory…"

          "Well…that makes sense…how could he remember things that only Remy could remember if he wasn't Remy?"

          "Good point," Kitty said, "but if that were the case why couldn't The Professor or Jean couldn't locate ANY memories in the guys head, but he could still think and talk?  Now THAT's a really weird thing."

          "Yeah…Hank is down there right now, he's going to examine the body and see what he can find…"

          Kitty looked away distantly, feeling slightly chilled by the thought that some identical twin of Remy's had been leading her on this whole time with stories of not being able to remember, could it have been true?  "When the Professor gets here maybe he'll have a better idea of what's going on," she finally said.  "And maybe he'll be able to find the REAL Remy."

          "I hope you're right," Rogue replied.


	2. Chapter 2: The Nightmare

Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 10

Chapter 2:  The Nightmare

          Rogue sat down at the table in the kitchen with a hot cup of coffee in her hand, exhausted.  It had been a very strange twenty-four hours, and her mind was still reeling from all the information and emotion she'd been through since waking up yesterday morning.  A rollercoaster of emotion that most people never experienced in a lifetime.

She had only planned to close her eyes for a few moments to rest as the exhaustion had finally washed over to the point that she could no longer keep her eyes open.  She promised herself she would only rest a moment in between trying to wait out the remaining hours of early morning until the Professor would return.  Propping her elbow up on the table and resting her cheek against her palm, she let the entire weight of her body rest, and let the blackness temporarily overwhelm her.

          Sleep came although she had not anticipated it, and soon, she was dreaming, pulled down by the images and sounds of it all.  Pulled deeper and deeper down into the dream, the nightmare…

          There was a thudding at a thick wooden door across a small dingy room, and she turned, glancing at it, curiosity growing.  Through the door she heard a soft malicious laughter, muffled through the wood, and she was suddenly aware she could feel herself trembling all over.  That laughter sent a wave of tingles running along her spine, and sensations like ice cubes slipping around inside her stomach.  The fear reached her very gut.

Through the keyhole of the door, a glimmer of silver caught her eye, liquid silver seemed to be trickling through, running down the wood to the floor where it was collecting in a puddle, now the laughter was louder, a disembodied voice rung out through the room.  The puddle was quickly growing, pulsating, watching it brought overwhelming nausea that she had to swallow back.

          Rogue backed into the nearest wall, realising she was half naked as the cold rough cement of the wall hit her back, she glanced back realising that she'd hit the patch of wall that the wallpaper was peeling off of – something she'd meant to deal with long ago, but had neglected constantly. 

She was close to tears, but couldn't bring herself to cry.   She felt the panic surging through herself, knowing what was coming, and that there was nothing she could do about it. Then the door was open – the door that she had known she had locked was now unlocked, and swinging open, and at the same time the room plunged into darkness, something that seemed very familiar, as if this were something that would happen often.  As the door slowly opened, the dingy light from the hallway began to spill in, casting strange patterns across the room, shadows of a pursuer crossed across the light.

The puddle of silver was growing, rising upwards like dough in an oven, what little light there was sparkled off of the silver.

          She couldn't speak, nor cry out for help, the only thing she could do was run.  She turned and ran towards the bedroom, she knew an escape route, through a fire escape.  She rushed to the window, only to remember that it was closed and that she'd never been able to get it open in all the time she'd lived in the apartment.

Rogue tried to open it with all the might she had and it would not budge, she turned, in the darkness she could make out dark figures looming in the doorway, their faces obscured in the bad lighting that made its away through the window from the street.  She was gasping for breath, panicked, dizziness beginning to besiege her as the terror within herself grew.  The laughter was now more maniacal, and closer, and in the darkness several pairs of red eyes were glowing, eyes that seemed familiar, eyes she knew.

          Overwhelmed by an onslaught of dread, she knew she'd been found again, by Him.  And no matter how much she'd run from him, he always found her again, and whenever he asked for her services, it always meant trouble.

          The cold malicious voice finally spoke, and the only words were, "You know what you have to do."

          Rogue jerked up from her seat so hard from the dream she overturned the entire kitchen table, she heard it slam against the tiled floor, heard the smash of the coffee cup, and she stared down in shock to see the black liquid making its way through the maze of grooves in the tiles.

          Rogue was trembling, she put her hands to her mouth to stop from gasping, the dream had been so real, almost as if she'd lived it, and yet, to the best of her knowledge, she never had.

          It seemed so familiar though, and she couldn't place why.  She'd seen these things before, not in her own life, not in her own memories, but…sometime elses.

          "Rogue!  What happened?!" Jean Grey came running through the door, hair mussed, makeup smudged, she'd obviously been sleeping in a nearby room judging by the mess of her hair and the crumpled condition of her clothes.

          "I…I had an accident," Rogue rubbed her forehead.

          Jean rushed over to grab a handful of kitchen paper from the roll on the counter to mop up the spilled coffee, whilst at the same time using her telekinetic powers to raise the table and put it back in the position it had been in.  "What happened?  Rogue, you look mortified…"

          Rogue picked the chair – which had also turned over – and placed it at the table, "I fell asleep at the table…had a…a really strange nightmare," she stammered.

          "You're shaking," Jean said, she mopped up the spill and tossed the soaked paper into the garbage.  "What was the nightmare."

          "I…I don't really know, I was trying to get away from someone…he knew where I was…he always found me…" Rogue hugged herself insecurely, eyes wide, "It sounds crazy but…this wasn't a just a nightmare...this…this is someone's memories…someone I've touched…"

          Jean gestured to the chair, "Rogue, sit down," she said softly, her voice tired, "clear your mind."

          Rogue flinched away instinctively from Jean's hand as it touched her sleeve, "What are you going to do?" she asked softly.

          Jean smiled softly, "trust me…" she pleaded.

          Rogue sat down slowly, "okay…" she whispered.

          Jean two fingers two inches away from each of Rogue's temples, closing her eyes, "close your eyes, relax, inhale deeply, exhale slowly, clear your mind…"

          Rogue closed her eyes, doing as she was told.  Her mind cleared of all thoughts momentarily.  The light-headed sensations of Jean's powers delving into her mind began to grow.  Then, that sensation began to leave, and in her mind she saw the things she'd just seen, they ran backwards slowly, it felt as if she were suffering from some effects from some hallucinogenic drug, but with a difference, it was running so slowly everything seemed almost clearer somehow, the laughter seemed more audible.  As she was trying to open the window in the vision, the hands that were in front of her were not hers, they were mans hands, and in the glass, she had failed to notice the very faint reflection of Remy LeBeau looking back at her with wide frightened eyes.

          She gasped, eyes snapping open, "REMY!"

          "Calm down, Rogue, calm down," Jean placed her hands on Rogue's shoulders soothingly, "it looks like your nightmare was something you picked up from Remy...something recent too, these memories aren't more than two months old…that's why its still so vivid…"

          "I remember now…" Rogue swallowed, her breath shallow from the stress of it all, "I accidentally touched him outside of the Bar less than a week after we found he was innocent..." her head was swimming with confusion and emotion.

          "Rogue, you need some sleep, you're exhausted…" Jean said softly, "I'm going to go down to the hospital wing and get you some sedatives, then you're going to sleep."

          "No…" Rogue refused, "I need to wait until the Professor comes back…I need to speak with him…this…nightmare…might be important, it might be a clue as to what happened to Remy…" she stood up quickly, stumbling from exhaustion.

          Jean realised it was no use trying to argue with her, especially when Rogue was right.  The Professor would be back to the mansion within three hours, and it seemed pointless in going to sleep for three hours just to wake up to speak with him urgently, and Jean realised no matter how tired Rogue was, it was most likely Professor Xavier would want to speak with her about this – after all, a death in the mansion was not to be taken lightly.

          "Fine…" Jean finally agreed.

          Rogue searched her thoughts to pull out the details of the memories that had been Remy's.  "He was so scared – I was so scared," she whispered.

          Jean watched Rogue, there was something in Rogue's eyes that made her feel as if Rogue might be a million miles away.

          "I…I was living in Remy's memories…it was so frightening…he was terrified…"

          "I know, I saw it too," Jean nodded, "the emotions surged through me like through you…"

          "What did that voice mean?" Rogue asked, "What did he say?  'You know what you have to do'?" she shuddered, "whatever it was, seemed like it was something Remy would have ran for his life than do."

          "I don't know," Jean sighed, "whatever you picked up from Remy by touching him was limited, too vague to pick out anything other than what we both saw, I'm as in the dark as you are…but when the Professor arrives maybe his powers will pick up on more – his powers are so much more superior than mines…"

          "Maybe I'll go downstairs and speak to Hank, I need something to keep me awake, coffee isn't doing its thing anymore," Rogue yawned.

          "What's Hank doing down there?" Jean asked tiredly.

          "Investigating the body as far as I know.  It was a while ago since I left the hospital wing, maybe he's found out something by now…" Rogue said hopefully.

          "What does he expect to find?" Jean asked curiously.

          Rogue raised an eyebrow, "Some kind of sign as to WHO is exactly on that bed?"


	3. Chapter 3: The Findings

Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 10

Chapter 3:  The Findings

          Rogue tapped lightly on the door of the hospital wings infirmary, holding her breath, glancing down the dimly lit corridor, exhaustion still pulled her down, and she felt if she even leaned against the doorframe for a moment she might pass out.  But she forced herself to stay awake, promising herself that once she found out exactly what was going on, then she could get some sleep – although taking time to sleep while no one knew where the real Remy LeBeau was did leave her uneasy. 

          The door opened slowly, Hank peered out, "Yes?" he asked.

          "Can I come in?" Rogue raised an eyebrow.

          "It's…it's not a good idea," Hank said, he stepped out quickly not allowing her access he closed the door behind himself, he was wearing a disposable apron – which was already smeared with blood, Rogue felt slightly sick at the sight of it.

          "So…you cut him up…" Rogue chewed her lip.

          "I didn't slice him up, just…a very small incision…surprised he bled so much really…" Hank explained, "is the professor back yet?  What time IS it?" he asked.

          Rogue glanced at her wrist watch, "it's ten to six," she yawned, "so what did you find…?"

          "Some…very fascinating things," Hank admitted, and his tired indigo eyes glimmered with that intense expression of scientific excitement, "But, I still need time to examine the findings properly under the microscope.  When I was examining him I did notice something very odd…" Hank admitted, "I opted for some forensic investigating just to determine if anything matches and find out exactly who this man is and if he's related to Remy," Hank explained, "I found a brown hair on Remy's coat, I would assume it's his…"

          "Could be mines…I touched that coat," Rogue admitted with a sigh.

          "No, this is his, I assure you," Hank assured gently, "it's too long to be on of your pretty hairs," he smirked.

"Isn't it sad that his hair is longer than mines," Rogue said, feeling strange about making the joke, when the situation was that even if he wasn't Remy LeBeau, a man had still died.

"Anyway, I made my way to the cadaver to remove a hair and while I was doing so I noticed a scar – very fine – on his head past his hairline, large but fine enough to ensure that his hair would never reveal it," Hank explained, "incredibly intricate work you know…"

          "So?  What does that say?" Rogue queried.

          "That someone with exceptional surgical skills has been operating on this man – someone who can barely leave a scar…"

"Wow," Rogue chewed her lip.

"Not only that, but from the look of the scar I'd say at least three years had gone by since the incision – the healing was quite remarkable," Hank explained, "and as squeamish as I was…I decided to open that wound to see what had been done – feeling it may lead me into understanding exactly what is going on…"

          Rogue turned away, nausea overwhelming her, "and?"

          "A piece of his skull had been removed, and replaced with a small metal plate – which I removed to investigate further," Hank explained, "beneath the plate, and tucked into the brain I did find a small piece of metal, it looked barely bigger than a tiny splinter of iron against his brain but under a microscope I discovered that it is a microchip."

          "A microchip?" Rogue gaped, wondering what someone would have with such a thing in their brain.

          "Yes, one of the same kind of technology myself and Kitty found on the bullet last night…" he said, "part of the bullet that shot Rem—Uh, I mean mr John Doe—was an intricate piece of technology that would give an electrical shock on impact…"

          Rogue listened, fascinated by this despite she wasn't a massive fan of technology.  "So…if it's a chip, surely you can access it through a computer?" she asked.

          "I thought so, but it's such sophisticated and complex technology that we may not have a chance at all in finding out what the chip is for – I have a theory that we may be able to hook it up to Cerebro but for that I will need the Professor's help," he explained.

          Rogue nodded, "find anything else?" she asked.

          "Not yet, I need to examine all the DNA, until then there isn't much more I can advise you…"

          Rogue nodded, "You look like you could use some coffee, Hank."

          "I think we both could," Hank said.

          "I'll go make some up, while you go do that lab stuff…" Rogue said.

          Rogue left Hank, and headed back up to the kitchen, she felt very uneasy once again, something very strange was going on, and Remy's involvement in it did confuse her a great deal.  She found herself wondering if her dream – Remy's memories that she'd absorbed – had anything at all to do with this look-a-like.  She wished she'd been able to access further memories than Jean had been able to bring forward.  Maybe a name or a clue as to what Remy had been running from exactly would help.

          It has to be a mutant, she thought darkly as she began to make a large pot of coffee.  Liquid silver…god it reminds me so much of that movie Terminator 2: Judgement Day, she mused as she went about making the coffee.  A rush of noise burst into the kitchen as five of the students clambered in, four of them chatting merrily amongst themselves. 

          Illyana Rasputin laughed gleefully at something Alison Blaire had said, Rusty Collins was explaining something to Paige Guthrie about a homework problem he'd been having, and as usual, Monet St Croix remained silent, stepped over to the refrigerator to retrieve some Cranberry juice – the only thing she ever had for breakfast.

          Rogue gaped, noting they were all in uniform, and then she realised she'd forgotten all about the Danger Room training session at six thirty which she herself was meant to be instructing – something they were no doubt getting prepared for by having a quick breakfast to boost their energy. 

          Don't panic, she thought at herself, all she'd have to do was explain to them that because of an unexpected incident there would be no training today.  She glanced back at them all again, and realised that this might not be the best thing to tell them as they'd be immediately curious.

          Monet St Croix walked over, opened the small cupboard near Rogue's head and retrieved a glass for her juice, "You're not training us today, are you," she said, quite matter-of-factly rather than questioning this.

          Rogue glanced at her, wondering how in the world the girl could have known, "How did you—"

          "You're not in uniform for one thing," Monet admitted, "and I heard you pacing up and down this mansion all night," she added, "could have only been you in those shoes," she pointed out quite dourly, she poured her juice from the carton.

          Rogue grabbed a hold of Monet's arm, "you didn't make that observation just from how I'm dressed…"

          Monet just gave a wry smile, removed Rogue's hand from her arm, and walked away to put the carton back in the fridge.

          "Rogue, are you alright, you look awful…" Alison commented, she was sitting at the table waiting on breakfast – which today would be toast judging by the way Rusty was throwing slices of bread into the air and blasting with his pyrotechnic abilities.

          Rogue felt even worse now that the students had noticed it, but she realised that she was still wearing yesterday nights clothes, her makeup was mostly gone except for the faint remnants staining the skin around her eyes making her look like a panda.

          "It was a very long night," Rogue managed to say, "and the reason I'm not in uniform yet is that I won't be training you today…" she said, she glanced over at Monet, who was sitting at the table primly now sipping her juice and glancing around the room absently.  "Monet will be doing it."

          "Monet?!" all four of the mutants excluding Monet burst out in objection.

          Rogue looked firmly at Monet, "it's a new training tactic" she lied. 

          Monet raised an eyebrow, "of course," she said, knowing full well of Rogue's quick lie.  "And, uhm, which tactic would this be?"

          Rogue paused for a moment, thinking, "to…to brief the most mature and responsible student in handling a team exercise in the danger room – to check for…for maturity levels…"

          "Maturity levels?" Alison asked sounding quite confused, "for what?"

          "For…" Rogue swallowed, "for picking a team leader."

          "A team leader?" Monet raised an eyebrow, "since when do we need a team leader?"

          "It's about time you did," Rogue said quickly, hoping she'd pulled this off, "when I was your age in training, we had Scott as a team leader."

          "You were part of the X-Men then, we're just students," Rusty pointed out.

          "Well, you are in some way your own small team," Rogue reminded, "X-Men Juniors," she smirked nervously, "and…well, I'll explain it all to you later, Monet, you do know how to run the Danger Room don't you?" Rogue suddenly asked.

          "Yes, we were briefed on that by Storm," Monet stood up.

          "Right, come with me, I'll just recap for you," Rogue gestured for her to follow.  A quick instruction in the control annex and then she could take Hank his coffee and find out any more information he may have found.

          Monet followed, once they were down the hall and out of earshot, she said, "that was very quick thinking considering you've been up all night," she commented.

          Rogue glanced out of the corners of her eyes at Monet, "is that a compliment?"

          "If you like," Monet said, stepping into the secret elevator that led down to the floor the danger room resided upon, "so what could possibly be SO important that you need to skip training us?"

          Rogue frowned a little, "Nothing for you to concern yourself with."

          Monet glanced at her, "wouldn't have anything to do with Mr LeBeau, now would it?" her expression became most dour.

          "Just be quiet," Rogue muttered.

          Monet was about to speak again, and Rogue quickly dismissed her by putting her hand out and pointing at Monet to warn her against saying anything else.

          Monet hushed, normally she'd be smug, but the seriousness had not left her flawless face.

          Rogue sighed, it was beginning to stress her out just how much this young woman knew about her life and her feelings about Remy – she seemed far too perceptive for a normal sixteen year old should have been.

          Shaking off her uneasiness, she took Monet to the Danger Room control annex, intent on quickly teaching her everything she needed to know about the training session, so that she could get back to finding out what was going on with Remy's look-a-like.

          Little did she know that in the lab, Hank was already making a fascinating discovery.


	4. Chapter 4: Startling Discovery

Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 10

Chapter 4:  Startling Discovery

          Rogue started down the hallway towards the lab feeling absolutely exhausted, almost as if she were walking in a trance, her head almost seemed detached from the body.  It had been most difficult trying to convince Monet to stick to the Program in the Danger room that she had already scheduled.  Monet already had ideas of giving the team a much harder workout than had been planned, and Rogue was not convinced they were ready to handle it yet.  Rogue felt uneasy now that she'd left Monet in charge down there, and wondered if she maybe should have got Jean to handle the exercise, but Jean had been up late as had most of the other instructors in the mansion – everyone had been unable to sleep with the stress of the situation.

          Still, she'd finally convinced Monet to promise not to use a higher levelled exercise and she certainly hoped that the girl would stick to that promise and not be swayed by her own opinion that she was always right (which Rogue felt she was not). 

          Rogue was now most intent on finding out what Hank may have discovered, she knew how intelligent he was, and she knew even having been up all night that intelligence wouldn't let him down, especially when the curiosity had captured his attention the way it had.

"Simply fascinating," he rushed across to the other side of the laboratory holding a small sheet of glass, he placed it under a microscope-like piece of equipment quickly, adjusted a vice to lock the glass into place, and he switched the equipment on, it whirred with life as he hurried towards the computer.

          "Coffee, Hank," Rogue said, watching him with interest, "what have you found out?" she asked, quite impressed he seemed to have found something so quickly.

          Hank looked over his shoulder at her, "I'm not definitely sure yet, I'm still trying to verify what I found under microscopes and tests," he explained, he stood in front of the nearby computer workstation by the microscope equipment, it had two monitors hooked up to one computer, Hank typed a code into a small text box on one screen and hit the return key.

          Rogue walked over, and put the coffee down on a nearby counter, "what am I looking at exactly?" she asked, the screen simply showed the word 'loading' upon it, blinking furiously, then the image of a structure presented itself on the screen as a spiral ladder, moving slowly, spiralling across like a screw across the screen.

          "This…" Hank gestured, "is Remy LeBeau's DNA, from a sample I took years ago," he stated, he used a command prompt on the keyboard, and on the other monitor, he typed a code into the second monitor, the loading screen came up again, then came to life with another image of a DNA structure.  "And this, is the dead Remy's DNA."

          Rogue nodded, "alright…" she nodded, she tucked her hair behind her ear and yawned a little, she tried to pay close attention but it was hard to when exhaustion was trying to haul her into sleep where she stood.

          Hank remained silent for a moment, he was examining both screens, glancing at them together, eyes darting back and fourth, "absolutely astounding!" he gasped.

          "What's absolutely astounding?" Rogue raised an eyebrow, she moved a little closer to look at what he was looking at.

          "Don't you see?" Hank asked, "it matches almost identically, except for one inconsistency," he said, he pointed to a section of the dead Remy's DNA with the eraser tipped head end of a pencil, "A major inconsistency, the very most important one," he explained.

          Rogue examined the both monitors, to the untrained eye, she didn't notice anything really inconsistent with the DNA at all – but then she was not a scientist.

          "The program I use to view the DNA at this level is highly intelligent – it even recognises the X-Gene – the gene that gives us our mutant gifts," Hank explained, "on this screen the X-Gene is depicted by the colour green, you see?" he pointed with his pencil, "and on the second Remy there is no X-Gene.  Whoever this man was, he was not even a mutant," Hank's expression was one of most pride that he had discovered this so quickly, "so the theory that this may have been a shapeshifter is indeed ruled out," he added.

          Rogue nodded, "Okay, so the DNA matches…so?  What does this mean?  Does it mean that they're maybe related like I thought?  Twin brothers?"

          "No, this is far more advanced than human genetics, Rogue...this is…" Hank shook his head, "an absolute breakthrough in science," he gestured to the second Remy's monitor, "an absolutely perfect identical clone…cloned from the original DNA of Remy LeBeau."

          "A clone?!" Rogue gaped, "you mean…someone actually…actually took Remy's DNA and made a copy?!  Why would someone want to do that?!" she was absolutely mortified at the thought of this, who in the world would want two of the same man, especially a man such as Remy.

          "Why indeed," Hank said, although more of a comment than a question.

"Would cloning him have passed on any intelligence or skills?" Rogue asked.

"Not very likely," Hank admitted, "skill and intelligence need to be honed and gained through work…" he added, "which brings us to the question of why the clone was able to talk as we do and think for himself – but we'll figure this out at some point..."  he brought up another screen on the clones DNA monitor and a white screen full of coded text appeared, he began to scan through it carefully, frowning in deep concentration, "ah-hah," he pointed the pencil to a specific code, "this is a very fascinating case, Rogue," he said, "look at this, this gene here, this promotes an accelerated growth – but at an astounding rate…" he explained, "I've never seen ANYTHING like this before."

          Rogue looked at him, "But you cloned spiders…so you haven't exactly not seen something like this before…"

          "Yes but there's a large difference between a HUMAN clone and a spi—oh my…" Hank paused, "Oh my…" he suddenly looked quite alarmed, "oh my oh my oh my…" he looked at Rogue.

          "What is it, Hank?" Rogue raised an eyebrow.

          Hank brought the screen of the DNA structure back up again, "the clone is missing the X-Gene…" he explained.

          "You already said that," Rogue reminded, folding her arms.

          "Think about it logically, Rogue," Hank frowned, "the spiders I was working with, mutated Wolf-spiders that I had cloned – I had discovered that I couldn't apply the X-Gene to an already grown living creature, it had to have been born with the X-Gene to mutate," Hank explained, "It was that very thing that led me to clone the spiders, instead of cloning them as I had before, I added DNA during the cloning process…"

          "How exactly DO you clone a spider anyway?" Rogue asked curiously.

          "Very difficultly," Hank admitted, "the way I done it is almost in the way that test tube babies might be conceived…but with spiders, and eggs…its all very scientific,  and I don't really have time to explain it all at this moment in time…what matters is that I think I know what happened to my research AND the remaining spiders…"

          "I still don't understand," Rogue said, although at that moment she felt she might have understood had she not been so exhausted.

          "Remy was here, with us, when he left, this was oddly enough the same time my research notes AND the remaining cloned spiders miraculously somehow vanished," he explained, "Obviously Remy is involved in this somehow…"

          "But…Remy wouldn't do that…" Rogue shook her head, "He was a thief, but he had no interest in genetics, and he certainly wasn't intelligent enough to go and clone himself!" Rogue almost laughed at the concept.

          "No, no, I don't mean he did this all," Hank said, "obviously he is working for someone who DOES.  He obviously worked as both a test subject and was sent here to get the research."

          "But…I don't get it, how could Remy – or whoever the hell he's working for – know about your research?"

          "Easily," Hank sighed, "A few months ago I attended a conference in Washington regarding the incarceration of dangerous mutants – innocent mutants whose only crime was an inability to control their own powers…"

          Rogue nodded.

          "I explained a little about my research there – that, if my theories were accurate – then there may be a way to somehow remove the X-Gene from the DNA and replace it with another gene…"

          "So you think someone from that conference may have hired Remy to get that from us?  How could they have even known he'd had a history with us and that we'd let him in so willingly?  No, I really don't buy it…" Rogue shook her head.

          "Buy what you want, Rogue," Hank said, "but you know as well as I do that Remy is probably the only person we know tricky enough to get away with such a thing…and to replace himself with a clone without a memory – a sheer stroke of brilliance."

          "Oh come on, you're overestimating Remy just a tad.  He's smart, but only for conventional heists.  Remy steals valuable items, but I think even he'd know the worth of your research and how if it fell into the wrong hands it could possibly destroy hundreds – even THOUSANDS of mutants.  Remy is a thief but he HAS a conscience."

          "And what if he was doing this for himself, Rogue?  To rid himself of the very power that has been shocking those who touch him?" Hank asked, "or better yet…" he put his hand upon Rogue's arm gently, "what if he was doing this to find a cure for you, hoping that whoever he has passed this work onto…may find a way to remove your powers…"

          "Remy didn't give a shit about my powers, and you know that," Rogue pulled away, "No, Hank, I don't believe you, I don't think Remy could have done this…"

          "What about revenge for the way we reported him for murder, Rogue?"

          "As long as I've known Remy, he's NEVER been out for revenge towards anyone…" Rogue trailed off.

          "The man who raped you…and then Jared, I think it's safe to say that he does have a slight temper, Rogue.  Being blinded by anger can turn you towards all kinds of vengeance tactics.   And don't forget he was out for revenge regarding the 'mutant x' drug…"

          The images of the dream came into Rogue's mind one again, the scared look of Remy's eyes in the reflection in the window.

          "What is it? You look…like you've just thought of something," Hank said.

          "I…I just…I know he was Scared, Hank.  Something was going on, I don't think what he's done was malicious, Remy isn't a vicious person, and even if he wanted revenge, he isn't likely to take it after seven years, he does let things drop eventually."

          Hank looked at Rogue, "I know you are defending him because you have feelings for him, Rogue, but I am almost positive Remy could have been the only one who stole my research.  It may be that the man behind this all is trying to destroy all mutants with this information.  We must start looking to a way to tracing the clone BACK to the man who made it, and stopping anything from taking place…"


	5. Chapter 5: Divided Opinions

Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 10

Chapter 5:  Divided Opinions

          "Almost positive!" Rogue fumed as she paced the pedestrian walkway of the hanger beneath the mansion's grounds, "Almost positive that Remy could have been the only one to have stolen the research!" she growled.

          "Hank really said that?" Kitty asked, she found it a little hard to believe Hank would blame someone without looking at the facts or finding proof first.

          "YES!" Rogue stomped angrily back and fourth, "ALMOST POSITIVE," she repeated, angrier still, "isn't that just another way of saying he's not SURE but he's just pinning it on Remy anyway?!  I mean there isn't any real evidentiary support to that theory that Remy stole the research…"

          Kitty was sitting upon the rail cordoning off the walkway from the landing strip, watching her best friend pace wildly back and fourth over the path with a look of extreme contempt on her face.  On one hand, Kitty wanted to back Rogue up one hundred percent that Hank had to be wrong about Remy stealing the research, but on the other hand, Kitty also knew from past experience that Remy was possibly the only person any of them knew to pull of such a tricky thing as to steal the research and get away with it. 

          Kitty felt torn, but finally made a comment, "But Hank doesn't just make wild accusations, we've known him, like, forever," she said, "You know as well as I do he just doesn't point the finger, he assesses the situation and comes up with theories."

          "Well this isn't a theory, THIS is an accusation, and it doesn't seem like he assessed the situation enough to really have a right to accuse Remy at all," Rogue folded her arms stubbornly, her head spun around and she glared at Kitty, "and why the hell are you defending Hank when Remy is your FRIEND, you're meant to be defending Remy, not Hank."

          Kitty looked away, "I know that," she sighed, "and I also know that Hank is ALSO my friend," she frowned a little, "I'm not going to take sides here Rogue, I'm just suggesting the possibility that maybe Hank is right," Kitty shrugged, she then looked at Rogue, "Maybe he did do it…"

          Rogue turned away, temper flaring, she tried to remain calm but it was increasingly difficult.  She'd spent so much time blaming Remy for everything that had ever went wrong in her life and ignored her own responsibility in her problems that now she realised it was finally time she defended him despite she had to admit to herself it might be possible.

          "I touched him, Kitty…" Rogue looked to the floor sadly, "If he had been out for revenge or something, or intending to pull off this stunt for money…then…I don't know, I should have felt that from him, surely."

          "Remy's good at hiding his emotions, Rogue," Kitty confessed softly, "he's good at bluffing.  I mean when he was running from us and we caught him he was acting like a smart ass like nothing changed, and then when you attacked him in the confinement cell he made jokes – I would have NEVER even figured that he was a manic depressive, Rogue…"

          Rogue raised her eyes to Kitty momentarily, then looked away once again.

          "And if he could hide that even from you – and you touched him – god knows what else he could easily hide…" Kitty added, "but…I'm not saying he did this to be hateful…or even did it for money...I mean…isn't it possible…he maybe could have done it out of fear, Rogue…" Kitty said, "what if someone was making him do it…?"

          Rogue thought back to the dream again, shivering slightly, she hugged herself insecurely, and leaned against the wall.

          "Lately he had seemed…detached, and edgy, and I always got the indication he was worried about something…when he was here he wanted his criminal record cleared as quickly as possible so he could get the hell out of here, it was almost like he thought…someone knew he might be here…like he was scared of being found," Kitty became aware of the distant drone of one of the Red Eye Jets as it was approaching the Hangar area.

          Rogue turned and gazed towards the sliding doors which were still sealed shut tightly, the Red Eye was not yet close enough for landing, but her heart skipped slightly knowing that the professor would soon be home and some of this might be resolved

          "I just figured maybe he was trying to get away from you, that being around you was maybe hurting him emotionally or something," Kitty confessed, "never assumed for one minute there might be something else to this…edginess he had about him," she explained.  "And...as for him doing it for revenge?  If that were so why would he reach out to us, Rogue?" Kitty asked, "Why would he reach out to me, and tell me he was depressed…you don't do stuff like that if you're going to screw someone over and steal something from them…even if you're trying to trick them into trusting you…you just don't tell them your weaknesses…"

          Rogue nodded, beginning to become slightly more at ease with Kitty's assessment than she had been with Hank's.  Kitty was right, why would Remy tell her about his depression if he planned to steal from Hank, it would have made more sense to stay quiet.

          "Rogue, I know Hank…and he doesn't have anything against Remy…I think maybe Hank is just…maybe a little sensitive because it was HIS work, his research, y'know?" Kitty suggested, "it was important to Hank, and…so much time and effort and work went into it, you have to understand how much it meant to him…and that just having someone to blame right now is his way of dealing with it."

          Beginning to understand just a little more, Rogue decided Kitty just might be right, "I guess…"

          "Hank hasn't slept – NONE of us have – and emotions are running high in this place right now, this is the kind of thing that's left us all knocked for six…it's understandable how accusations could be made…god knows, tomorrow we could all be laughing about this," Kitty stated.

          Rogue sighed unhappily, "until Remy is safe, I don't think I'll be doing much laughing."

          The Professor had arrived and in a whirlwind of information Kitty and Rogue had  allowed him to access their minds quickly enough to find the facts.  Once he'd done this, he rushed away at once to find Hank and learn all he could about the clone, whilst Rogue filled everything in to Logan and Ororo who had also arrived back.

          "I agree with Hank," Logan said, he lit a cigar as they were now in the kitchen, the sun had risen up over Bayville and the walls of the kitchen were tinted gold with its' light, "there's somethin' up here, and I definitely think the Cajun is behind it all, this whole thing has Remy LeBeau's stink all over it," he exhaled smoke through his nostrils, leaned his back against the nearest counter and folded his arms.

          Rogue and Kitty had explained everything they could

          "But it doesn't make sense to think he did it out of revenge," Kitty said flatly.

          Piotr Rasputin and Ororo Munro were also sitting at the kitchen table with Rogue and Kitty, they were all sharing their opinions on this situation, everyone seemed to be coming to a different conclusion, which Rogue was very uneasy with.

          Piotr glanced towards Kitty, his eyes spoke of something that had only been shared between them both, and Kitty suddenly remembered once again what he'd told her about his cousin seeking Remy out and finding him in Paris for an unnamed Man.  Kitty felt it wasn't her place to mention it to everyone else, so she remained silent, and listened as the others spoke.

          "Ororo, what do you think?" Rogue asked, looking at her desperately, hoping Ororo would at least fall onto Remy's side and not agree with the others there was foul play.

          "I think…" Ororo took a careful sip of her hot coffee, then continued, blue eyes directly on Rogue, "that if Remy was indeed intending to get revenge on all of us, then he would not have befriended Kitty once again."

          Kitty gave a firm nod, "That's what I figured."

          "Also," Ororo continued, "Remy wouldn't have trusted anyone if this were merely some plot for revenge – yet he trusted Kitty, he took her into his home, despite she could have called the police on her himself."

          "That reminds me," Kitty clicked her fingers, "the night the police found out where he was, me and Remy had just gotten into the apartment, coming back from my parents funeral," she explained, "when we got in the place had been ransacked – and none of his stuff had been taken – which suggests to me that it WASN'T done by normal criminals," she folded her arms.

          "Possibly," Logan took another puff of his cigar, he glanced towards Rogue, "what was this you mentioned about a dream?" he asked, referring to something she'd said quickly whilst trying to explain all the details of the last twenty-four hours.

          "I had a dream that I was running from someone, and I was scared, and I woke up, Jean helped me access the dream in my mind and it was Remy's memories, from a time I accidentally touched him when we were outside McDuggins," Rogue's green eyes narrowed as she pictured it in her head once again.  "He was running from some guy, some guy who could…I don't know…have you guys ever seen that movie 'Terminator 2: Judgement Day'?" she suddenly asked.

          "Yeah," Logan snorted, thinking this was a rather absurd question to ask at a time like this, "what's that gotta do with anything?"

          "Whoever this guy was, I think he had a power like the T-2000…he could…I don't know, mutate into liquid metal or something…"

          "Shapeshifter?" PIotr asked, "the robot in that movie was a shapeshifter, he could imitate objects and humans of equal size."

          "I don't know exactly," Rogue shook her head, "all I know is…I saw liquid metal coming through the keyhole, then on the floor, growing in this massive puddle, it looked like it was…breathing or something…and then…then he ran to another room, a bedroom, there was a bed against the wall…"

          "That was where I slept when I stayed with him," Kitty nodded, listening closely.

          "The window was shut and he couldn't open it, when he turned to the door there were…silhouettes there…but red eyes…I can see them SO clearly in my head…and then this very cold voice…said 'you know what you have to do'.

          "Do you know what he had to do, though?" Ororo asked.

          Rogue shook her head, "No…all I got from the dream – or his memory of it – was that he was scared, and he knew that this guy – whoever he is – was bad news.  This was a guy who he'd worked for before I think…and whenever he worked for him it meant trouble…"

          The X-Men in the room all suddenly became aware that the voice of Professor Xavier was ringing out loud and clear in their very own minds.

          {X-Men, please, at once come down to the war room for an emergency meeting.}   "Sounds like Chuck might have found somethin' out," Logan stated, "now lets go find out what the hell is goin' on exactly."


	6. Chapter 6: Cerebro's Revelation

Dismal Angel 2010 - Episode 10

Chapter 6:  Cerebro's Revelation

          The X-Men rushed down to the war room at once, and sat around the very large circular table, the Professor had not even arrived yet, nor Hank.  Jean and Scott had been the first ones to arrive, and were already sitting looking concerned, Scott's expression grim as usual.

          Rogue took a seat next to Jean, "Hank told you what he found out?" she asked.

          "Yes," Jean nodded, but said no more, she leaned back in her chair folded her arms and waited patiently for the arrival of the Professor.

          Kurt Wagner stepped in, "what's going on?" He asked tiredly, he looked as if he'd just woken up, his eyes bleary, fur dishevelled and his hair sticking up at one side of his head. 

          "Hank and the Professor have found out something," Jean replied to Hank.

          Kurt took a seat beside Kitty, he brushed his hair from his eyes, "you been up all night?" he asked, noticing that her eyes were dark underneath and her face was a little paler than usual.

          "More or less," Kitty glanced across the room towards where Piotr was sitting – which was on Rogue's left.  She sighed and propped her elbows up on the table, rested her chin upon her palms and stared at him.

          "How was your valentines day, by the way?" Kurt asked, just making conversation, he noted the look she was giving Piotr.

          Kitty made a face and turned towards Kurt, "it sucked.  Duh.  I made Remy commit suicide – and alright, it wasn't really Remy but it COULD have been."

          "Oh, right," Kurt bit into his bottom lip, "did I just do that thing where I've just put my foot into my mouth again?"      

          "More or less," Kitty shook her head in disbelief, "what is WITH you lately?"

          "Nothing," Kurt shrugged.

          The professor arrived in the room, Hank following suit. 

          "I'm glad you're all here," Professor Xavier said, moving across the room, he brushed his hand gently against Rogue's shoulder as he passed her.   "You're all probably wondering why you've been called in here, or some of you may already know what the situation is.  But I feel it is necessary to warn you about a possible threat that we may find ourselves…"

"What's going on?" Bobby yawned.

"Last night the Man we thought was Remy LeBeau threw himself off the balcony with a noose around his neck, his neck was instantly broken, and it wasn't until a later examination Rogue and myself discovered that the man down in that hospital wing is NOT Remy LeBeau," Hank stepped forward.

Bobby and Kurt looked at each other confusedly, then back to the Professor and Hank, "what…?" They both asked together.

"Upon further examination we discovered that this man is an exact replica of the real Remy LeBeau, through the most advanced genetic methods, someone physically made this man.  Also I discovered a specific gene in the clone's DNA which would have promoted an advanced aging process meaning this clone might possibly not be even four months old yet maintains the appearance of a twenty-eight year old man.  Chances are, had he survived, we would have seen him aging quickly over the next few weeks."

"So…if he's a clone, and barely four months old…how come he had the intelligence of a man Remy's age?" Kurt asked, "isn't that impossible?"

"Yes, it is," Hank stated, "and it bothered me a great deal and I was unable to come up with the solution to this until only twenty minutes ago…"

Rogue looked at Hank, "So…?"

" "Whilst I was examining the cadaver, I found a very faint scar hidden beneath his hair, the incision probably would have made upon the clone when he was an infant, and the accelerated growth gene also would have healed this up quite quickly – which is why we were unable to see the scar up until closer inspection," Hank explained.

Rogue nodded, "yeah, you told me that."

Hank smiled, "yes, but I need to bring the others up to speed," he insisted, "I decided to make my own incision and see what surgical work had been performed on the clone, and I found this," Hank held up a tiny plastic bag which contained a minute computer chip, "a memory chip…which myself and the Professor managed to connect to Cerebro," he explained, "By fooling the chip into convincing it that Cerebro was merely a brain we were able to access some of the information upon the chip…the information was coded – luckily with Cerebro's decipher tool we managed to gain some access into the information, but everything is still badly scrambled…"

"We burned it onto a DVD," The Professor interjected, he moved to the computer console, opened the DVD/CD rom slot and slipped the CD in carefully.  Upon the large plasma screen that was panelled upon to the wall, images began to appear, scrambled, sometimes barely distinguishable and fuzzy, then at sections clear.

Rogue leaned forward, squinting at the fuzzy blinking images, they seemed very familiar, so familiar in fact, that when she saw a very fast flicker of image with her teary face staring back at her, she knew at once what these images were.  "Oh my…God," she whispered, putting her hands to her mouth.

"The chip is more like a small hard drive, it contains all the information – and it is separated into two sections, one containing a large amount of memory data, and another containing the general information that the clone would need to think for itself…" The Professor explained.

Rogue spoke up, "But if he had Remy's memories in its hard drive…" she felt odd saying those words, "how come he couldn't remember us or recognise us?"

"Good question," Hank said, "he was recognising us, at least a little, you especially," he explained, "there's one possible explanation," Hank raised a small plastic bag containing the bullet Remy had been shot with within it, "this is the bullet the clone was shot with.  When I was examining it I found out that upon impact this bullet would give off a strong electrical shock…this may have been what caused the memory chip to malfunction.  It may be that whoever created the clone knew we would be looking for Remy, and wanted to keep us occupied and unsuspecting."

"Unsuspecting of what?" Kurt asked tiredly.

"Of realising that the Real Remy was the one who stole my research on cloning and the applying of the X-Gene.  Whoever cloned Remy realised that cloning the mutant in question does not clone his powers as well, not without using the techniques of which I had discovered.  My mutant research was based upon adding mutant DNA to spiders so that I could attempt to remove it and leave the mutant without power – a remedy for extremely dangerous mutants to save them from their own powers," Hank rubbed the back of his neck absently, looking at his friends with an expression of flustered embarrassment, "I had revealed during a conference in Washington that I was working on these theories, I can only imagine that whoever created the clone was at that conference."

"Wouldn't you be able to find a list of people who attended?" Bobby asked.

"I would, but of five hundred men and women it would be difficult to pinpoint our culprit," Hank stated calmly.

"It's worth a shot," Jean said, "I'll do that."

"Alright," The Professor said, "the next thing we need to focus on is that we may be in for trouble, whoever wanted that information would not want it for science, but for something far more disturbing."

"I don't like the chances of fighting off three thousand clones with mutant powers," Kitty shuddered, she could almost see it in her head.

"What do you think this cloning-guy will do next?" Bobby asked.

"I'm not sure," Professor Xavier replied, he glanced over to Piotr who looked a little preoccupied, "Piotr, what is it?"

Piotr's face went a little pink, "I…I do know of something that may be of relevance," he said softly, "My cousin Ivan has the ability to trace other mutants with his own power, and two years ago he was called upon by a mysterious man to trace Gambit…who was found later in Paris."       

"What relevance is this to anything?" Bobby asked raising an eyebrow.

Piotr frowned a little, his cornflower blue eyes squinted at Bobby, "the man would not give Ivan his name – Ivan did not care either.  This man could afford an exceptional amount of money for a simple trace – more than Ivan is usually paid," he explained, "and why the interest in Gambit?  He is not exactly a powerful mutant…"

"I thought maybe it was for a specific robbery job," Kitty stated, "I mean Remy IS a thief and all."

"Maybe someone should check out if any major robberies were carried out around that time," Scott suggested, "if we can find a robbery around that time we can so trace up who suddenly came into money around that same time period, perhaps we can find out who that was and rule him out as the geneticist in question?" He asked.

Rogue glanced over to Scott, "but that DOESN'T rule this guy out, I mean if he's a geneticist he'd surely need funding for his work, right?  What if that's what Remy's part in this was?"

"Right now everything is all in theory as we don't have much proof of what has gone outside of the information we already have," The Professor explained, "with the information so badly scrambled its hard to find out much more…"

Rogue stared towards the plasma screen again, watching the pictures flickering wildly, it reminded her vividly of the times she'd touched people and absorbed their thoughts, that jumble of nonsensical memories she'd temporarily latch on to during the transition. 

A familiar image caught her eye, "rewind that!" she gasped.

Hank pressed a clawed finger against the rewind button and the DVD began to run backwards.

"Put it on slow…" Rogue pleaded, she stood up, gaping.

On slow motion, the image held itself to the screen much longer, long enough for the image of liquid silver to be seen sliding along a floor, pulsating and crawling its way along dirty tiles leaving no residue. 

Bobby's mouth dropped a little, it looked vile, and obscene in some strange way, yet even he could not take his eyes off of the liquid silver pulsating puddle, "What…the fuck…is that…?"

In seconds, the image was gone, replaced by the flickering images blurred and pixellated, eventually, the images were gone, replaced by a green screen with black squares running across it, the DVD corrupted too much to continue giving more information.

"That's it…" Rogue whispered, "that's who we're looking for…"

(The End…or is it?  Mwahahhaahahahahahahaha…mwahahahahahahah, mwahah.  Thanks – as usual – to everyone who left lovely long reviews.  Like I always say, its so much nicer to read some actual thoughts than the phrase "update soon or else", lol.   I know the story is dragging on but hey, if it went too fast I'd leave out important details that might not make sense – well, I never make sense any way but that's besides the point.  Aaaaaaah anyway, keep an eye out for episode 11.) 


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